Jim_Iain - Summit Live Post B3B Greenland / Iceland / Canada Aug 7, 19 and 31, 2022

Beba-Beba · September 5, 2022

Loving following your latest adventure with my morning coffee. Thank you so much for sharing your stunning pictures.

Have you heard anything about the luggage valet returning to MIA & FLL? I will be sailing Jan 30 on the Equinox for a b3b. This senior solo cruiser really misses the convenience of that program.

Mary

upwarduk · September 5, 2022

3 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Yea... watching KPIX in San Francisco now. In the Central valley where my daughter lives they are forecasting 114 f .

That’s about the temperature we had in Europe recently.

I used to like the heat, but that was too much.😱

rvlandandsea · September 5, 2022

5 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

I would love to do that one. If I recall you have a stop in Charleston. A port we have never been to.

We loved Charleston on a sailing from Port Liberty. We visited the plantation setting for the film Notebook. Also, the dolphins were being playful near the dock just before we left. Congrats on your top cruiser award.

long time lurker · September 5, 2022

Jim, if I may ask a favor. We have signed up for the Beaupre Coast and St Anne Canyon and winery tour for our October 3 sailing. If you have a free moment can you ask at shore excursions which winery is on the schedule. Many thanks and enjoying your wonderful review. Getting excited for our trip.

ijscheer · September 5, 2022

36 minutes ago, long time lurker said:

Jim, if I may ask a favor. We have signed up for the Beaupre Coast and St Anne Canyon and winery tour for our October 3 sailing. If you have a free moment can you ask at shore excursions which winery is on the schedule. Many thanks and enjoying your wonderful review. Getting excited for our trip.

We did this tour back in 2014. I believe the winery was Domaine L'Ange Gardien. The trip to St Anne Canyon was an unexpected treat.

AstoriaPreppy · September 5, 2022

45 minutes ago, long time lurker said:

Jim, if I may ask a favor. We have signed up for the Beaupre Coast and St Anne Canyon and winery tour for our October 3 sailing. If you have a free moment can you ask at shore excursions which winery is on the schedule. Many thanks and enjoying your wonderful review. Getting excited for our trip.

We did the identical excursion before on Royal in 2018, and the winery was... pretty bad. This portion of the excursion just seemed like an excuse to sell bottles of ice wine to tourists.

On our excursion, we went to Vignoble Domaine L'Ange Gardien, which was not on Ile d'Orleans (despite the description at the time). The "vineyard" was small, more like a large suburban backyard. We packed into a small room, and got a five minute lecture about growing grapes. We sipped a few wines, and then were sent into the gift shop to buy. There were no tasting notes, or explanations of the varietals or wines, and the wines we tasted were pretty bad/overly sweet.

As others have mentioned, the canyon portion of the trip was excellent, and we really enjoyed it!

Edited September 5, 2022 by AstoriaPreppy

long time lurker · September 5, 2022

Thanks you @ijscheerand @AstoriaPreppy. I appreciate the info. We will see if that is who they still use. I looked at their website, but could not find the English translation on my phone. It has been a long time since my high school French days, but I got the idea. Our first food excursion was cancelled and we were going to just tour on our own. We have been to Quebec before, but it has been a long time. When we saw that we will be there over Canadian Thanksgiving we thought it might be wise to book a tour. We will enjoy the sightseeing and hope to find some good ice wine.

Arizona Wildcat · September 5, 2022

6 hours ago, Beba-Beba said:

Loving following your latest adventure with my morning coffee. Thank you so much for sharing your stunning pictures.

Have you heard anything about the luggage valet returning to MIA & FLL? I will be sailing Jan 30 on the Equinox for a b3b. This senior solo cruiser really misses the convenience of that program.

Mary

Mary - the company that ran Luggage Valet is no longer in business. In Seattle the Port of Seattle operates the service. Could someone start up.a Luggage transfer service? Absolutely. Lots of other cities where it used to be offered.

raudacruise · September 5, 2022

9 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

It included only the first cruise. This cruise, there are only 7 Zenith's.

It's fun but looking forward to another 1,000 points and getting a Free Cruise when we hit 6,000.

I love that you take many cruises and post superb live reviews!🚢 Always something to look forward to.

Jim_Iain · September 5, 2022

9 hours ago, shirazcruiser said:

Jim, did you have any problem streaming TV while on the European leg? I followed your Ipad hook up posts and had no problem in the Caribbean, but haven't been to Europe in a while and will be going soon.

Been pretty good most of time. 1/2 day out of Halifax we lost internet for a couple times. Usually on both legs of the TA internet, I eland and Greenland very good and didn’t need VPN

Most of time since Boston needed vpn for Netflix and YouTube tv. Says out of country.

We did loose internet while passing through the Fjords in Iceland.

At least on Summit speeds are related to room proximity to routers. In CS we have one in our room c so good connectivity

Jim_Iain · September 5, 2022

9 hours ago, Mcgeneseo said:

My favorite series. Glad to see you're hooked. It helps if you read them in order as her characters develop and change.

They Are a great read. I like to read. Or listen to series in orders. Live to see how characters develope and interact.

Jim_Iain · September 5, 2022

8 hours ago, AstoriaPreppy said:

These photos bring back great memories! The Fortress of Louisbourg is one of the better cruise ship excursions we've taken. It was almost like a Canadian Colonial Williamsburg, and we ended up buying a bottle of small batch, very boozy rum aged in oak barrels at the fortress.

What fun. It really was both interesting and very interactive.

my favorite was a lady working in a garden and teaching some kids about growing veg. She would pick a bean or pea and share with the kids. They had such big smiles

Jim_Iain · September 5, 2022

8 hours ago, cachouonacruise said:

Jim and Lain, bravo! you have finally reached the closest point to our home! lol! We're just 2.5 hours further up the St-Lawrence River known in French as Fleuve St-Laurent, living in a small town on the south shore of Montreal and the river.

I hope you will really enjoy your day in Quebec City and I look forward to see it through the keen eyes of your camera!

It is the perfect day and really saw so much. I don’t think I can talk the cabin to head closer to your home. I don’t think Summit would fit under the bridge.

Jim_Iain · September 5, 2022

8 hours ago, Beba-Beba said:

Loving following your latest adventure with my morning coffee. Thank you so much for sharing your stunning pictures.

Have you heard anything about the luggage valet returning to MIA & FLL? I will be sailing Jan 30 on the Equinox for a b3b. This senior solo cruiser really misses the convenience of that program.

Mary

Nothing. I asked and was told the vendor they used is no longer in business and they are seeking a replacement

pamkev · September 5, 2022

9 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

I would love to do that one. If I recall you have a stop in Charleston. A port we have never been to.

This one does not stop in Charleston we have been there many times beautiful city. We go to Bermuda the ABC islands Grenada and St Lucia ends in Miami

Jim_Iain · September 5, 2022

3 hours ago, long time lurker said:

Jim, if I may ask a favor. We have signed up for the Beaupre Coast and St Anne Canyon and winery tour for our October 3 sailing. If you have a free moment can you ask at shore excursions which winery is on the schedule. Many thanks and enjoying your wonderful review. Getting excited for our trip.

I just asked and the shire excursion manager they have not been given any information on it. Basically said Miami negotiate with the vendor and they can’t even access or book until turnaround day.

he said the winery is selected by the vendor.

Jim_Iain · September 5, 2022

1 hour ago, raudacruise said:

I love that you take many cruises and post superb live reviews!🚢 Always something to look forward to.

Thanks. Really enjoy doing. I also learn so much from others. I try to never even suggest I’m an expert as I cano my report what we see and do.

shirazcruiser · September 5, 2022

10 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

Been pretty good most of time. 1/2 day out of Halifax we lost internet for a couple times. Usually on both legs of the TA internet, I eland and Greenland very good and didn’t need VPN

Most of time since Boston needed vpn for Netflix and YouTube tv. Says out of country.

We did loose internet while passing through the Fjords in Iceland.

At least on Summit speeds are related to room proximity to routers. In CS we have one in our room c so good connectivity

Thank you for responding... I won't hold you up with questions on VPN's and room routers. I'll ask you when you're home and settled from this great trip. Jealous as we had to cancel our Princess Iceland-Greenland cruise departing in 6 days. Love your photos and enjoy the rest of your trip!

Jim_Iain · September 5, 2022

We booked a tour via Tours By Locals about 6 months ago. 3 weeks ago they came back to us and said our guide had a problem and had cancelled. They offered us the opportunity to cancel or they would attempt to find a new guide. Eventually they said none of their agents had availability but our original guide offered a friend that he had worked with for 20 years.

We accepted the substitution and were overly pleased with the replacement. We had a wonderful day and our 4 hour tour ended up

lasting 6 hours. We are worn out but had a real memorable day.

Chick has lived his whole life in Quebec and has done tours for 30 years. He mostly now works for the Filming Studios and Entertainment venues driving stars and entertainers.

He has so much passion for Quebec, he kept saying I can’t not showing you this or that.

long time lurker · September 5, 2022

12 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

I just asked and the shire excursion manager they have not been given any information on it. Basically said Miami negotiate with the vendor and they can’t even access or book until turnaround day.

he said the winery is selected by the vendor.

Thank you JIm! I appreciate you interrupting your vacation for me. We will be pleasantly surprised 😀.

ChrisNY2 · September 6, 2022

2 hours ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

Mary - the company that ran Luggage Valet is no longer in business. In Seattle the Port of Seattle operates the service. Could someone start up.a Luggage transfer service? Absolutely. Lots of other cities where it used to be offered.

Yes! Bags, inc. used to do a similar remote airline checkin for Walt Disney World resorts until Disney decided to put it on the chopping block for cost savings. Bags, inc., still operate a lot of baggage services and would be a great one to pick up the Celebrity Valet service! https://www.bagsinc.com/remote

(and no - i have not connection to them - just LOVE the convenience and miss it from the Disney resorts.)

Jim_Iain · September 6, 2022

We got a text from our guide that he was waiting for us 30 minutes early. As soon as the ship was cleared we made our way off the ship through a beautiful terminal.

Right across from the terminal is the Hotel Frontanac.